04/08/2022
6:30PM K.O.
Mersey Valley Sports Club
Wednesday evening was a frustrating one for Stretford Paddock as they left Mersey Valley with a 2-2 draw. Despite a domineering second half display, a blend of good Mersey Valley defending and plenty of missed chances from Paddock meant that both teams would go home sharing the points.
Both teams started the game strong both playing with good technical football at a high intensity. Stretford Paddock debutant, Dom Molloy, started strong, often finding his brother out on the wing with a handful accurate long-range passes. It was Mersey Valley however, who had the better start.
In the 11th minute, Mersey Valley sent a long throw into the box which was met by a teammate. Left unchallenged, the Mersey Valley player headed the ball nicely past Paddock’s Kian Pearce in net to put the home side ahead.
Stretford Paddock responded well to going 1-0 down as a flurry of chances followed. A break from Will Hobson down the left-hand side saw the left back drag his shot wide. Paddock also got the ball into dangerous areas behind the Mersey Valley defence, but nobody was on the end of Kieran Molloy’s crosses.
The game then slowed down for a period but in the latter stages of the half, the new man Dom found himself with the ball on the edge of the penalty area. Dom elegantly slotted the ball across the keeper and into the bottom corner to level things up.
HT: Mersey Valley FC 1-1 Stretford Paddock FC
The first 5 minutes of the second half was all Mersey Valley. Paddock hadn’t got out of the blocks yet when they lost the ball cheaply in their own half. The ball was collected by a Mersey Valley player who took on a long-range strike which looped over the Kian Pearce’s head and into the back of the net, 2-1.
After the slow start, Paddock settled back into the swing of things again and slowly began to take control of the game. Yet, it was the last half hour of the game where Paddock really had Mersey Valley up against the wall. Plenty of chances were squandered and a hand full of penalty shouts were waved away by the referee.
After an injury to striker Tom Jones, Joao de Andrade came back off the bench and bagged a much-needed equaliser. In the 78th minute, some good link up play between Joao and Nosa Iyamu saw find himself one-on-one with the keeper. The ball was finished into the bottom corner to level things up once again.
The last 10 minutes panned out the same as the previous 20. Paddock mounting attack after attack onto the Mersey Valley defenders who kept them out. In the 89th minute, the ball fell to the feet of Joao again who sent the ball wide of an almost open net.
FT: Mersey Valley FC 2-2 Stretford Paddock FC
Stretford Paddock FC: Kian Pearce, Will Hobson (61’ Michael Burke), Thomas MacFarlane (78’ Aftab Jan), James Oatt (C), Ryan Pickering, Dominic Molloy (40’ GOAL), Nosa Iyamu, John Ogo (46’ Kayode Adewale), Tom Jones (61’ Joao de Andrade), Joao de Andrade (78’ GOAL) (46’ Ronaldo Brown), Kieron Molloy (94’ Conor Knowles)
